


i’ve been hearing symphonies

by whataboutpierre (sunflowerwithfeelings)



Series: Les Mis Soulmates [1]
Category: Les Misérables (2012), Les Misérables - All Media Types, Les Misérables - Victor Hugo
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Everything is Beautiful and Nothing Hurts, F/F, Soulmates, all thénardier children are good and loved
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-29
Updated: 2018-01-29
Packaged: 2019-03-10 22:25:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,559
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13511007
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunflowerwithfeelings/pseuds/whataboutpierre
Summary: “Thank you,” Cosette whispered before leaning in and kissing Éponine on the cheek, a faint lipstick stain left in her lips place.Oh yeah, soulmate had huge competition.-When you turn 21, you can hear whatever singing or music your soulmate is hearing.





	i’ve been hearing symphonies

**Author's Note:**

> It’s been a hot second since i’ve written anything. this took me three tries and two months but i d i d i t.
> 
>  
> 
> ALSO: i’ve always wanted to add this (i do it for all my fics but never post them) and i thought it’d be very fitting to post it for this one but i’ve made a playlist for this fic! [here](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_CqcZ6d5lW1F-iPhSEjs41IpeNhdnEBO) it is, if you’re interested.

 

When she walked in, choruses of angels didn’t sing, just the sound of a small chime of the bell above the wooden door to the cafe. It was usually followed by a’ hello’ to Mrs. H or chatter from the last remains of a conversation she’d been having with whoever she was with, most of the time it was Jehan or Marius. She sat in the middle, sometimes floating around the room, making sure to talk to everyone. Even Grantaire, who sat in the back and spent more time drinking black coffee and staring at Enjolras then he did actually participating. Seldom was she able to leave someone without a smile on their face. Éponine often found herself smiling whenever she overheard the girl’s voice, her heart being squeezed in her chest by every spoken word.

  
Éponine worked at the cafe where her friends hosted weekly meetings, her earnings going towards her vinyl collection, rent, and gavroche’s school supplies. She walked over to the backroom where they sat, her black notebook and pen in hand. Although she really didn’t need it, everyone always ordered more or less the same thing.

  
Enjolras and Combeferre liked black coffee. Courfeyrac and Musichetta ordered caramel frappes, or something more complex if they felt spunky. Bossuet, Joly, and Marius all ordered water; Marius preferring a lemon be squeezed and stirred in. Jehan ordered jasmine tea. Bahorel and Feuilly liked espressos; whether it was a double or single depended on their workload that day.

  
Cosette was the newest addition to the group even if she’d been hanging around for a month or so. Whenever Éponine approached her, she instantly smiled, and asked how Éponine’s day was. When she was deciding on what to order she’d purse her lips together and think for a second, seemingly calculating her mood into her order. It was always something different. Sometimes she’d get a white chocolate mocha. Other times it was a simple green tea. Today she made a cute humming noise before looking at Éponine and asking for Raspberry Chai Latte with a ‘please’ tacted to the end of her sentence. Something sentimental in that made Éponine melt even if it was something so simple.

  
Quickly jotting down everyone’s order, she left and came back just in time.

  
“It’s five-o-two, should we start this meeting?” Combeferre asked bringing his silver watch to eye level, his thin, round glasses perched low on his nose.

  
“Sure!” Enjolras clapped his hands together and began as he usually did.

  
Éponine sighed, sitting down and stacking the trays together, picking at her already torn fishnet stockings, when Grantaire plopped down besides her, his green sweater rolled up to show his paint stained forearms. His ripped jeans folded open to expose the tattoos littered on his legs, the other intricate designs peeking out from the cuffed sleeves.

  
“Late as usual,” she smirked, looking at him with wide eyes and a crooked neck.

“I already sat down so if you wanted something, you’ll have to wait or flag down Azelma.”

  
“I lost track of time...What’d I miss so far that inconvenienced my dear Apollo?” Grantaire leaned back in his chair, rocking on the two hind-posts.

  
“Nothing yet, just started.” Éponine said.

  
Before Éponine could tune herself into the conversation topic at hand, Ms. H had called her from the main part of the cafe. She glanced back at Grantaire, who looked sympathetic.

  
“Duty calls,” she whispered and, grabbing her trays, tiptoed out of the room, trying not to drag too much attention to herself.

 

* * *

  
  
It was a late night, more like early morning, when Éponine glanced at the clock. She had just gotten out of the shower, her hair and body wrapped in two different towels, both worn from the years of usage. It had been a long day from hurrying Gavroche out the door to the bus, to going to work two different jobs while trying to take some insanely sketching online classes, to try and figure out what she’d possibly make for dinner for her and her siblings. The only time she really had to herself was in the wee hours of the morning. Midnight had rolled around an hour ago, the time reading 1:16 am.

  
Éponine snuggled into some cozy pajamas and shook her hair dry; she didn’t believe in hair dryers. Some old candles she’d been given by a co-worker were lit on her nightstand, the scent of lilac and vanilla filling her nose. She was about to roll into bed when there was a quiet knock on her bedroom door. Éponine shook her head and smiled.

  
“Yes?” She asked.

  
Gavroche barged in immediately upon her saying this, making a running start for her bed, followed by Azelma lovingly walking after him. Gavroche jumped up and tackled Éponine, his arms hugging around her shoulders like a baby bear that had been separated from its mother for too long.

  
“I thought you guys went to bed a couple hours ago. What are you doing up?” She asked after she pried her little brother off of her.

  
“Hap-”

  
“HAPPY BIRTHDAY!” Gavroche threw his hands up with a smile, Azelma laughing. Gav sat on his butt crushing Éponine’s lower legs but she didn’t mind.

  
“You didn’t have to stay up for that. You have school-”

  
Gav waved his hands in front of him as if to get Éponine to stop talking. He looked at Azelma who shook her head.

  
“We wanted to wait till you got out of the shower.”

  
“We got you a present!” Gavroche said like he was very proud of himself.

  
Éponine smiled, they had rendered her speechless. She wondered how they’d found the time to do that but she wasn’t going to ask.

  
“Thank you,” Éponine opened her arms, wrapping both Gavroche and Azelma in for a hug, squeezing her eyes shut. How she adored both of them.

  
Then, somewhere in the distance, Éponine heard a woman’s voice singing. It felt familiar and drew closer, like it was coming from the main room of their small apartment. She opened her eyes drew away from the hug.

  
“What’s wrong Ponine?” Gavroche asked.

  
“Do you hear that singing?” Éponine looked at both Azelma and Gav. They, in return, gave a concerned look when Azelma’s expression softened.

  
“No...you’re turning 21 right?”

  
“Yea-”

  
Azelma jumped up on the bed and grinned widely, cheering in a victory of sorts. Gav looked at her like she was crazy, he was confused. Éponine felt her palms grow into a tight, tingly sensation.

  
“Why?” He asked.

  
“ ‘Ponine’s hearing her soulmate!” Azelma cheered.

  
Oh yeah.

  
Azelma started spouting rapid-fire questions. “What does it sound like? Is it a boy or a girl? Is it good singing? Is there music in the background? Describe it. Éponine!!”

  
Éponine was so enchanted by the singing, Azelma and Gavroche became mindless chatter for a couple of seconds. She couldn’t tell what the song was, but it was something slow and enticing, like a lullaby. She found herself wanting to sway to the invisible tempo.

  
She stood up and started walking towards the living room as if that’d help her identify it better. “It’s feminine. It’s really soft, almost like she’s unaware she’s doing it.”

  
Her siblings followed her as she entered the living room, the noise level of the singing still the same, almost fading. As she tried to listen and focus on the noise, it felt like she was losing it, grasping at the air to try and keep it. Eventually it ended, quite abruptly to Éponine’s dismay. She turned back to Azelma and Gav, who were both staring at her with wide eyes. She shrugged and after a moment, hurried both of them back to their bedroom with promises of telling them if she heard anything else. Fortunately for her, the rest of the night was quiet.

 

* * *

  
  
Éponine’s whole week seemed to be narrated by music, her soulmate wouldn’t stop listening to it. But it didn’t bother Éponine. It made her day a little more exciting. It made dealing with rude customers that much more bearable with a woman empowerment song. It made cleaning tables that much less like a job with an upbeat pop song. She started to love this endless soundtrack to her life.  
It was Friday afternoon, the time when her friends would gather in the backroom yet again to discuss what was wrong with the world. From a spot at the counter next to the cash register, Éponine could see into the room as her friends filtered inside slowly.

  
The ring of the bell.

  
The sound of an angelic laugh.

  
A soft ‘hello!’ to Mrs. H.

  
Cosette made her way to the room, an earphone hanging out of one ear.

Éponine smiled as she watched Cosette’s white dress sway side to side, almost as if it was able to hypnotize her. Whoever her soulmate was, had serious competition.

  
Éponine saw Grantaire make a running bolt across the crosswalk outside of the cafe’s windows, her cue to go take orders from her friends and hope Mrs. H wouldn’t need her for another twenty minutes. As expected, everyone’s order remained practically the same; Feuilly and Bahorel both ordering double shot espressos. She gave them a sympathetic look and walked over to Cosette, just now taking her seat.

  
“And for you?”

  
Cosette looked up, her bright eyes landing on Éponine’s bedazzled notepad with a cursive ‘É’ in the center. Her eyelashes flicked up to Éponine and she pointed to her new accessory.

  
“I like the jewels.”

  
Éponine nodded and blushed, her dark hair bouncing in front of her face.

“Thanks, my brother and sister got it for me.”

  
“How lovely…”Cosette trailed off, gazing at Éponine in admiration. She caught herself and snapped back into reality, running through all the drink options she remembered the cafe having. “I’ll..uh, have a green tea, please.”

  
Éponine wrote it down and hurried to the back when she heard the booming voice of Enjolras come from behind her. The meeting had already started. Grantaire proved not only to be reckless but an unreliable source of time judgement as well. She loved the boy but Éponine made a mental note to get a watch of some kind since Mrs. H had a strict ‘no phone’ policy while on the clock.

  
Carrying out everyone’s orders, she made her rounds as quietly as possible as Combeferre talked. While trying to stealth her way through the tables, she was also trying to go at a considerably fast pace, spinning around a couple of times to cut down on her time standing up and taking the attention of people trying to listen. Well, most people anyway. It wouldn’t bother Éponine too much if Cosette watched as her hair whooshed from side to side a couple of times. Not that she made it her goal to impress Cosette but if it was happening, she certainly wasn’t about to stop.

  
When she made her way towards Cosette, time seemed to slow down for Éponine. Her walking became less like a hectic tango dance and more like a peaceful, waltzing stride. Cosette brushed her hair back with her hand, her lips parted slightly as she listened to what was happening; noises that faded to the background of Éponine’s focus. Éponine reached up and felt the smooth porcelain of the mug that held the green tea, the warmth from the touch spreading to Éponine’s entire body. She exhaled; her boots hitting the mahogany floor with a soft click. Her point of view seemed the shift as she made her way towards Cosette. From what Jehan had talked of before, she could guess it might’ve been something out-of-body like. Éponine didn’t know why or how it was happening but she didn’t question it, it felt relatively nice. A calming feeling filling her lungs like sweet air or a freshly sprayed perfume. As she lifted the mug, it seemed like the weight didn’t matter anymore. The acceleration of gravity had slowed and Éponine felt weightless.

  
Then she heard a muffled ‘oh my god’ that snapped her back into reality.

  
Cosette’s head of hair was facing Éponine as she was looking down, green liquid running on her chest. Éponine noticed her hand holding the white mug was covered in foam and tea, the mug no longer white itself. Cosette quickly stood up and shuffled towards the bathroom, Éponine still frozen in place with her hand firmly on the handle of the mug. She shook her head and quickly let go, setting down her tray and looking around the room, everyone’s eyes on her.

  
“Fuck..” She mumbled before quickly following in Cosette’s general direction. Although she wasn’t covered like Cosette, Éponine needed to wash her hand, as well as get out of the room where 18 eyes stared at her. She knew Grantaire and Bahorel would definitely had said something snarky if she’d given them the opportunity. Also giving Cosette an apology would be a nice touch.

  
Éponine opened the door with her right hand, her left being green and dripping onto the floor. Cosette stood in front of the sink, she was dabbing a wet paper towel against her dress covered in water and tea. She looked up to see who had come inside, smirking at Éponine and playfully rolling her eyes, she looked back down at her dress. Éponine felt even worse now seeing that her dress was white.

  
“I’m so sorry-”

  
“Don’t apologize,” Cosette said. “I can get this out when I get home, it’ll look fine. I could tell you weren’t all there when you were walking towards me.”

  
Éponine chuckled to herself, washing her hand in the sink next to Cosette. She looked down, too embarrassed to look Cosette in the eye again. Cosette didn’t seem like the type of person to get truly angry but Éponine didn’t want to test that theory. Cosette looked over at Éponine, taking note of her stoic posture and body language, she nudged her shoulder with her elbow.

  
“Hey, really, it’s fine.” Cosette sounded genuinely sincere, nothing anywhere close to the saccharine tone Éponine thought she might get. Éponine looked up and met Cosette’s eyes, the warmth from before stirred in her chest as she remained firmly in her body this time. Soft smiles were exchanged.

  
Éponine shook her hands to get rid of the excess water and grabbed the paper towel from Cosette’s hands. Cosette raised her eyebrow and looked at Éponine.

  
“It’s my fault you’re in here and not out there with the rest of them. Let me help.” Éponine bit her bottom lip as she finished her sentence and worked on the giant stain. Cosette’s eyes tried not to focus on that but letting them float over her face seemed hard in this moment. Éponine brows furrowed slightly and her eyes were suddenly a different shade of brown. After a moment of silence between the two, Éponine continued, “You can borrow my jacket to cover this.”

  
“Éponine you don’t have to do that.”

  
“Nope. This stain isn’t coming out,” Éponine sighed and threw the paper towel into the trashcan in the corner. “And I don’t want you to walk outside the cafe with it for others to see and judge.”

  
Before Cosette could protest any further, Éponine left. Swiftly darting in and out of the backroom, she grabbed her old leather jacket. It was two sizes too big for her but she like it anyway because of how warm and protected it made her feel. An old friend gave it to her and she hadn’t been able to part with it. She walked back into the bathroom and luckily, Cosette was still there, typing something out on her phone. A giant leather jacket didn’t exactly match or go with Cosette’s current outfit but she took it nonetheless and onced herself over in the mirror before walking back towards the door where Éponine stood.

  
“Thank you,” Cosette whispered before leaning in and kissing Éponine on the cheek, a faint lipstick stain left in her lips place.

  
Oh yeah, soulmate had huge competition.

 

* * *

  
  
Éponine couldn’t wait for Friday to roll around again, it was the only time she saw Cosette since she wasn’t a regular customer. Bussing tables had been exciting all week, her soulmate was on a rock and metal kick. When five o’clock on Friday creeped closer, Éponine grew more and more antsy.

  
She’d been keeping a secret eye on the door since four. Every time the bell chimed, she’d look over, whether from the corner of her eye or swinging her whole head around, to see if it was Cosette coming early. It never was.

  
Cosette came on time, as she usually does, without her normal entourage. Éponine was standing behind the counter, watching her friends pre-meeting rituals, when Cosette walked in, catching Éponine completely off guard. Her hair was up in a ponytail, her bangs hung curled into her forehead. Red hoop earrings framed her face and popped against her white shirt and dark washed blue jeans. Éponine’s old leather jacket was thrown over her shoulders, trading in her usual white flats for black combat boots to match even if the jacket was years older, decades even. Her light dusting of blush over the apples of her cheeks was replaced by sharp, black eyeliner that starred arrows into Éponine’s heart. A white earbud hung out of her ear and it was then when Éponine heard a song change.

  
Éponine felt herself staring, but something in Cosette’s actions made her think that that was the goal of the get-up.

  
Cosette walked over to the counter, her hips swaying a little more than usual.

“Here’s your jacket back. Thanks for letting me borrow it, it really grew on me.”

  
Éponine had to physically force herself not to melt and sigh when Cosette handed it back and their hands touched. She tried her hardest to make a coherent smile, Cosette smirking back and walking to the back room. Cosette spotted someone in the back and quickly ran to them, leaving a grossly, love-intoxicated Éponine in her wake.

  
A cough came from behind Éponine, who lazily turned her head to see who it was. Ms. H stood with her hands on her hips, moving her eyes back and forth from the back room to Éponine. Her special way of saying ‘I know what just happened but you have a fucking job to do.’

  
She made sure not to repeat what happened last friday, even if it became a happy accident.

  
Éponine planted herself by the cash register for the rest of the meeting. The flow of business was slow and barely anyone but her friends remained in the cafe. Ms. H had taken off earlier in the day for a hair appointment, so she made Azelma sweep then take a short break.  
Cosette had been talking with Combeferre about something or another for quite a while. From what Éponine could hear, Combeferre had quit talking and let Cosette have the floor, her body rising from the chair and the cord to her loose earbud swinging as she did so. She reached up and paused her music when suddenly the music Éponine had been hearing all day sharply cut off. Éponine didn’t want to get her hopes up. There was only one way to prove them, she thought.

  
Quickly, she hunted around the back of the counter and found a spare pair of earphones, hooking them into her phone and scrolling till she came to a song she thought could do the trick. It wasn’t extremely explicit but had the sensual and provocative lyrics of an early 2000’s song. Cosette was mid-sentence when she wavered, almost like something was distracting her. She continued on in her speech, forcing whatever it was to the back of her mind. Éponine couldn’t see the entire room but since Cosette wasn’t Enjolras nor facing Grantaire, it was highly unlikely anyone was doing something to distract her. Of course there was the flamboyant variable of Courfeyrac that Éponine had failed to add in, so she tried again to see if she’d gain a similar reaction.

  
This song, in terms of cleanliness, was considerably worse than the first. It was a song you might explicitly play when trying to turn someone on, which at this point was one of Éponine’s main goals as well as finding out if her girl crush was indeed her soulmate. What a wild concept that’d be.

  
Éponine was hunched over the countertop, the cold surface seering into her forearms. Cosette had moved across the room in the time it took Éponine to find the new song, she being in the very center of Éponine’s sightline. Pushing play, Éponine could catch Cosette slightly relaxing as the dip in music went in between songs. But the next played, the sultry lyrics rolling in one line after another. She caught Cosette stutter and trail off in her thought process, her mind probably too full of very vivid imagery. From the side of the room Éponine couldn’t see, she heard Jehan ask if Cosette was okay. She didn’t answer immediately, her expression agog from the song still playing. Eventually, she nodded and said she was, simultaneously calming any suspicion Joly might’ve developed.

  
Éponine held back giggles as she buried her head in her arms, her cheeks hurt but she didn’t mind. When she looked back up, Cosette was blushing like a tomato and glaring right at Éponine for a brief moment, but it felt like years to Éponine. Cosette finished what she was saying and quickly sat down, not getting up the entire rest of the meeting.

  
“You’re really red ‘Ponine. You okay?” Azelma said as she crossed the cafe from the employee back room.

  
Éponine choked out some laughs and nodded her head, “yeah I’m okay.”

  
She then distracted herself. Obviously walking right into the meeting wasn’t an option Éponine wanted to pursue and since business was slow, she refined her skill in polishing tables, silverware, and the wide array of mugs they kept. Anything to pass the time. Éponine even took out the trash, which was usually a job Azelma did since Éponine was usually the one to do the cleaning inside. As soon as the students cleared out, she’d be free to lock the place up and go home early. She told Azelma it’d be a early close, her sister nodding and setting her purse down on the counter to start locking and shutting down everything. It was the perfect plan.

  
Of course there was the variable of Cosette that Éponine had failed to add in.

  
“Excuse me,” Cosette had said over the counter. Éponine had bent down to reach something that all of a sudden didn’t matter anymore. She popped up and Cosette continued. “What was that?”

  
Éponine smirked, “that was vague. I don’t know what you’re referring to.”

  
Cosette huffed and spotted the door leading to behind the counter top. She walked over to it and looking at Éponine, who was internally freaking out, opened it and mesmerizingly wandered over to Éponine.

  
“I think you do,” Cosette didn’t have to speak loud considering that the distance between the two women grew shorter by the second. Éponine felt Cosette’s hand reach for hers, Éponine happily intertwining fingers with her.

She could feel her breath on her cheek.

She could see her eyelashes flutter till her eyes closed.

She could imagine her lips in hers.

  
And soon she wasn’t imagining anymore.  
The plush, rose lips of Cosette pressed to Éponine’s, their noses lightly brushing against each other. Cosette’s perfume engulfed Éponine in waves of peonies and cream and she didn’t mind drowning.

Her arm wrapped around Cosette’s neck, her earrings dangling against her inner elbow. The hand that held Cosette’s squeezed tight in affection. Éponine’s phone buzzed in her back pocket but she ignored it. No one was more important at this moment.

  
Cosette broke away and spoke into Éponine’s ear, “come home with me.”

  
Éponine wanted to agree instantly, every fiber of her being wanting to run with Cosette to the ends of the earth and back, but she had her siblings waiting for her back home.

  
“I can’t leave my brother by himself-“

  
“Azelma just closed shop and left.” Cosette’s eyes floated to the front of the cafe, Éponine turning to follow them. The sign was indeed flipped on the front door, Azelma’s purse wasn’t on the counter anymore. She checked her phone, a text from her sister urging her she’d take care of Gavroche while she had one night out.  
Éponine looked at Cosette through her lashes, biting on her lower lip in excitement.

  
“Alright.”

 

 

 

 

  
Epilogue:

 

The sun peeked through the thin curtains that decorated the window in the bedroom. It was easily 11:30 am, a rainbow dancing across a white, fluffy comforter. Éponine rolled over, Cosette’s body curled in Éponine’s direction. Some of her hair was tossed into her face; her chest rising and falling peacefully in the afternoon light. Éponine could hear the light chatter and television show from the living room, no doubt Azelma and Gavroche were already up and active. They were good at letting her and Cosette sleeping in on afternoons.  
Cosette stirred and lazily blinked herself awake.

  
“Good morning love,” Éponine whispered, Cosette smiling as she stretched her body underneath the bed covers.

  
“Good morning,” she croaked.

  
Cosette stroked Éponine’s arm with the back of her hand, running her smooth knuckles down to her hand, lacing her fingers with Éponine’s. She hummed satisfyingly and closed her eyes. Cosette smiled, Éponine admiring her dimples; how she had three on one side and only two on the other. Cosette opened her eyes and looked into Éponine’s, content with staring into the eyes of her soulmate.

  
“I’m so lucky,” she said.

  
Éponine shook her head, “no _I’m_ the lucky one. Before I turned 21, I had the biggest crush on you. I was kinda sad you weren’t my soulmate till I found out you were-“

  
“You has a crush on me?!” Cosette sat up and put a hand over her agap mouth. The corners of her lips were turned up, a sparkle fizzling in her eyes. The shoulder of her lose bed shirt falling.

  
Éponine could feel her face turning red, a sudden heat washed over her. Though, she didn’t know why she would be embarrassed. Of course she’d have a crush on her soulmate. It was like the universe nudging her in the right direction, Cosette’s direction, before unveiling her soulmate.

  
“Yes, why are you surprised?” Éponine quirked her eyebrow.

  
Before Cosette could answer, there was a knock on their bedroom door. Cosette turned and echoed a ‘come in’ before thinking twice. Gavroche bounced in. Éponine discreetly pulled up Cosette’s short sleeve, Cosette seemingly oblivious to it.

  
“It’s almost noon and I heard you talking. Can one of you make lunch? Azelma has very limited kitchen knowledge.”

  
Cosette nodded, Gav leaving after he got his answer, closing the door behind him.  
“It’s time to get up—woAH!”

  
Éponine threw the covers back over Cosette, burying her in a white comforter, her leg, and a soft groan. Cosette laughed as Éponine put her face in the crook of her neck, peppering it with kisses.

  
“5 more minutes.”

  
Cosette sighed and ran her fingers through Éponine’s hair. “Fiiiiinne.”

**Author's Note:**

> You can find me [here](http://queersunflowers.tumblr.com/) on tumblr.


End file.
